Generally, a wheel loader is larger in size and higher in vehicle height than ordinary vehicles. Therefore, a step ladder is required in order that an operator can climb up and down during inspection and maintenance of an engine room front (e.g., air cleaner) of the wheel loader. However, placement and removal of the step ladder every time the operator performs the operations require a large amount of labor for the operator.
In addition, in the wheel loader, rear wheels are normally located at the sides of the engine room front. Therefore, the operator needs to place the step ladder beside the rear wheel and perform the operations such as inspection and maintenance through the rear wheel, and thus, workability is not good.
Thus, it is conceivable to place and extend a foothold such as a platform from a driver's seat floor toward the vehicle body rear side.
An example of the platform is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-67533.
However, when the platform is placed and extended toward the vehicle body rear side, the driver's rearward view is obstructed by the platform during the operations. As a result, the driver cannot directly look at both the rear wheel and its surroundings at the same time, and it is difficult for the driver to check an obstacle near the rear wheel, and safety check in the rearward may become insufficient.